, 1887-12-09
OUR DEFENCES.
Report of the Secretary Of the
Navy.
Herr Most Sent Up For One
Year.
Chicago Selected for the Next
Republican Convention


made public to-day. Considerable space
is given to the statistics and details Of the
operation of the various branches of the
service, which are not of general interest
The report says that many difficultic:
have stood in the way of creation of 8
creditable new navy. During the las
year many OF these have been removed
and if it is the will of the country tina
we should be possessed of a navy able tt
maintain the honor and dignity of oul
government it lau now readily be created
The most notable fact connected with
the work of last year concerns the cruis'
ers Nos. 4 and 5. Congress, by the
legislation of last winter, put to the test
the ability of the department and Of
American shipbuilders to construct cruis'
ers having the highest Standard. The re.
q~uiremenst of the law have been observed
and these cruisers are now under contract,
with adequate security for the attainment
of the results guaranteed. American
shipbuilders have in these contracts
placed themselves in line with the fore
most in the world.
Touching on the subject of torpedo
boats and pneumatic dynamite guns, the
report says: To sum up this matter. the
department utGuuS II uhmlEC " OllO" at
present the course of European powers in
building unprotected torpedo boats. 1t
recognizes the power OF dynamite pro
%iectiles, and believes it practicable to en-
body in such a manner as to insure that
it will reach any desired object Of attack
in spite of any known weapons, and upon
that problem it is now engaged.
Daring the past year a new system has
l... IL - In-ll,, rt,,a, ,-l
supplies, which has resulted in a saving
of over % per cent.
An examination of the characteristics
of single tUrreted monitors show that
outside of ships in our W navy no an
t~agonist could probably be found against
which they could stand for a moment.
They were good vessels for their time, but
they are entirely obsolete. A first class
m ,dern ironclad could safely anchor, sur
rounded by a fleet of these monitors,
without any danger of injury to herself
and any one of her guns could send a
proiectile clear through the monitor from
steam to stern. 1t would be little less
than murder to send men in these at the
present tint to encounter any recently
built ironclad.
| appreciate fully that it is only a tenn.
porary e~xpedient that is suggested, and
with the thought that in the absence of
anything else these might be better than
nothing. This has been the theory upon
which probably $4,000, 900 have been
spent since the close of the war. 1t is
time to stop it, and he content only with
the best.
The pneumatic dynamite gun has been
developed by private enterprise to the
point where it merits immediate attention.
The principal difficulty with a machine
guns is that its range of torpedo fire is
short, that it is obliged to approach within
a few hundred feet OF the object Of attack,
which subjects it to destruction by ma.
chine guns. The pneumatic dynamite
gun attacks the problem by a new method.
Against its method of attack neither nets
nor machine guns are of any considerable
use. 1t can be fired at such distance as
TO be beyond effective range of machine
guns and the line Of flight of its projectile
escapes nets.
There are questions yet to be settled
before its efficiency for naval purposes can
Ue fully determined, For coast and harbor
defences, to be fired from land batteries,
its accuracy is substantially established,
but for naval purposes other elements of
difficulty intervene.
Public feeling seems to exist for the
creation of a naval reserve. Commit.
tees of the chambers of of
New York and San Francisco have passed
resolutions urging the organization of such
force as a means for providing for coast
defense and meeting the increased de
mands of a naval establishment for men
and vessels upon an outbreak of war.
The department has informed itself fully
of the different systems of organization
for coast defence and naval reserves at
present in force in foreign countries, and
it is prepared to formulate a general plan
for similar organization.
Under the head of ship building" the
report says: 1t is believed that our private
ship yards can produce war ships equal
and perhaps superior to- those produced
elsewhere when these industries shall have
been established.
The department is prepared to proceed
with the construction of armOur clad yes
sells, and recommends the commencement
of two additional ones to cost, exclusive
of armament. not exceeding $4,000, 900,
one to be built by contract and one IN one
of the navy yards. 1t also asks Tor author
ity to build three more fast cruisers Of
the highest type.
Attention is called to the considerations
presented in the report in reference to
provision of additional facilities for naval
work on the Pacific coast.
The report concludes by saying that a
point has now been reached when an in
crease in the number of officers and men
is absolutely required by the demands Of
the service. 1t is not possible for the
present limited complement to perform
efficiently the duties imposed on it. The
number Of second lieutenants is now fiji
teen and is subject , to further
reduction. At the same time pro
motion in the higher grades is blocked
The number of enlisted men is also made
auate, as at none of the shore stations ar
there enough men to carry OF the dut,
and numerous vacancies exist in tn,
guards of vessels, which it is impossible
to fll. On the Pacific station alone Their
are no less than thirty. The small mum
bers in the corps and consequent over
work lead to frequent assertions. In yie1
| ~ th,a cnot / atrOnrlu raonmpnap1 that th,